Connecticut western news., 1887-09-14
DEAD IN A THEATRE.
AN ENGLISH PLAYHOUSE BURN
 ED-GREAT LOSS OF LIFE.
The Royal Theatre at Exeter Catches
 Fire During 8 Play.

LONDON, Sept 5-The Theatre Royal at Exeter took fire this evening during per- formance of "Romany Rye" The occupauts of the pit, after an awful struggle, escaped, but many of them were greatly injured There was only one exit from the gallery, and the rush there was terrific Scores were trodden under foot and suffocated. fire.escape was brought to a window, and many inside wee rescued. Sixty corpses have been removed and many injured survivors were sent to hospital. The theatre was built after tho latest designs, and was elaborately fitted, being considered one of the prctticst in the kingdom.
 There was full house tonight, and every thing was all right until the end of the third act, at half-past ten, when d op scene fell, and in moment the whole stage was mass of fire. wild panic cnsued. The occupants of the stalls, pit and dress circle escaped after dreadful crushing, many being badly bruised. The actors and actr,sses were in their dressing rooms when the fire began and all escaped. The fire originated in the flies, and spread rapidly, filling the theatre with dense smoke. The occupants of the upper circle and gallery rushed to tho windows screaming f,antically. Many, jumped from rescued with the aid of ladders from the veran- das. The fire blazed ferccly, lighting up the whole city. People were soon focking to the scene in thousands, inquirins for friends.
 The scene inside the theatre when the fire
  plorcd the audience to be cool, but 1t was im- possible to check the frantic rush. The thea Ire hose was brought into use in a few minutes, but the water had little effect on the flames. The actors and actresses were taken from the windows with the aid of ladders. They lost everything except what they wore at the time. Up to the present time 13O bodies have been recovered They are almost unrecog- nizab,c Thirty injured survivors have been taken to the hospitals.
 Tlo G,.> <bo nj Nho majority of tho victims were men and boys. About thirty women wero burned.
 LONDON, Sept. 6.-The horrors have been in creased by the developments of to-day. It is feared that the death list will reach 40, while there are known to be sixty severely in- iured. The victims were mostly work people, and the majority of them were men. Few children perished. Severel whole families of from five to ten persons were lost. In many cases fathers and mothers both perished, and numerous children are thus left without means of support. Several of the bodies were burned so that only small cnder remained The audience numbered 800, and it has been ascertained that there were 200 persons occu- pying seats in the gallery. Of these over 100 lost their lives.
 As soon as the flames were extlnguished a large force of men began searching for bodies. The stairway leading to the gallery was liter ally packed with bodies, while at the head of the stairs there were scores of others, piled one on top of the other. The unfortunate victims had rushed to tho door when the alarm was given. but found the stairway blocked and all means of escape cut off. In short time the flames had reached them, and they suffered horrible death. It has been ascertained that in the rush ticket box upset at the gal lcry exit, and that this was the cause of the block at that point. The remains of nearly fifty persons wee found there. Most of the bodies are completely reduced to ashes.
 The construction of the gallery staircase helps to account for the great loss of life among the gallery people. Half way down the flight there was sharp angle. The first persons who left the gallery got past this safely, but several of those who followed were thrown down and jammed into the angle, and were unable to extricate themselves owing to the pressure from behind. The staircase at this point was thus effectually blocked, and there was no other means of escape.
 The search for bodies still goes on. It is very probable that the total number of deaths will never be ascertained owing to the fact that many of the bodies are so completely bnrned